“The Nobility of Retreat”*
This blog post is also available on my Facebook page to make sharing it with friends and family easy for you to do.
I completely forgot about this quote by Swami Kripalu.
I love this quote.
Oh!
Come to think of it,
I forget about this,
I forget about
This entire practice
All the time.
Let’s see:
- Nobility demonstrating fine personal qualities or high moral principles and ideals
- Retreat withdrawing, retiring, or drawing back, especially for shelter or seclusion
Especially for shelter or seclusion.
Oh.
~~~
I am
A
Worker
Bee.
I come from
Worker
Bees.
I am
Married
To
The
Queen
Of
All
Worker
Bees.
I learned
Early on
Work
Was
Home.
Well, it was.
My dad’s
Corner grocery store,
The Colfax Market,
Was
Two blocks
From
Our house
On Arthur Avenue.
They were
Always there,
Mom and Dad.
Coming home
For lunch
From grade school,
John James Audubon
#42,
Just a block away,
I went to the store.
Nobody was home.
Work was home.
When he wasn’t busy
Smoozing with customers,
Slicing meat,
Or
Worrying about something,
My dad would
Cut
Open
A fresh
Hard roll,
Slathering it
With mayonnaise,
Slicing turkey roll,
Oh, so carefully,
Tucking it
Lovingly
Inside
The awaiting
Bun,
And
Adorning
A sheet of butcher paper
With this delight,
His
Finished creation.
Extending
It to me
On a paper plate—
It could have been
A plate
Of
Gold.
Prasad.
Consecrated.
Mana.
I would sit on
The magazine shelf,
And have
My
Blessed
Lunch,
Loving it,
Recognizing
The
Blessing
Of it,
The being loved,
Being specialness
Of it…
But:
I wanted to go home.
Real home.
Like everybody else.
Another reason
To feel different.
They worked
All the time,
My people.
They worked,
For us.
For me,
For my sister.
I didn’t learn
To rest,
To pause,
To relax,
To nap.
Napping was
Passing out…
Like my dad,
Every night
After our six o’clock dinner
On the couch,
To go back
To the
Store,
At 7:00.
Not to come home
Until 9:00.
Only to do it
Again,
The
Next
Day.
I didn’t learn
To rest.
I learned
To
Keep
Going.
~~~
Rest is Resistance—A Manifesto
This is an extraordinary book by Tricia Hershey. Check out this quote:
“Rest Is Resistance is rooted in spiritual energy and centered in Black liberation, womanism, somatics, and Afrofuturism… Rest Is Resistance is a call to action, a battle cry, a field guide, and a manifesto for all of us who are sleep deprived, searching for justice, and longing to be liberated from the oppressive grip of Grind Culture.”
Grind culture. No kidding.
This short interview gives interesting insight:
~~~
Locating rest in relationship with the political and cultural demands of capitalism, of racism, of classism puts a powerful new frame around the issue.
Oh.
~~~
Friends, how do you rest?
How do you work against the push?
Against the efforting?
~~~
Here is Beautiful Chorus, an extraordinary group from Orlando, Florida. Their music offers me a sheltering, a deepening of my relationship with myself, a soft seclusion from my busy mind and my self-created busy world.
Family Mission Statement:
~~~
May we be healthy.
May we
Be present.
May we ride
The waves
Of our lives.
May we
Live
In
Peace
No matter
What
We
Are given.
May we rest.
Oh, dear friends,
May we rest.
Stay blessed,
Aruni
~~~
*Bapuji, Swami Kripalu